Annual Surveys of Journalism and Mass Communication

2005-2006 Enrollment Report:
Enrollment Growth Rate Continues, But at Reduced Rate

Lee B. Becker, Tudor Vlad, Maria Tucker and Renee Pelton

Abstract

Journalism and mass communication enrollments increased in the fall of 2005, but the 2005-2006 academic year was the second in a row in which rate of growth was modest. Growth in the size of the freshman class and the expectation of growth in enrollments generally suggest that enrollments in the field will continue to increase in coming years. The data also suggest that the field of journalism and mass communication is not keeping up with general trends in growth in graduate enrollments. An examination of faculty retirement projections suggests little disruption in the next 10 years, but more may lie beyond that period. Journalism and mass communication draws on two separate suppliers of faculty–the communication occupations and doctoral programs. Evidence is that this pattern will continue in the future.

Becker, L. B., Vlad, T., Tucker, M., and Pelton, R. (2005). Enrollment growth rate continues, but at reduced rate. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 60 (3), 286-314.

The copyrighted full text of the 2005 Enrollment Report is available here, courtesy of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator

The PDF version of the supplementary charts is available here (PDF, 1124K).

The PDF version of the supplementary tables is available here (PDF, 162K).